Minstrel (Holo)
Minstrel is one of the great nations of earthland and one of the most populated and richest nations in Ishgar. The land of MInstrel is a bit different than it's neighbor countries. While they have a monarch ruling the kingdoms, Minstrel is democratic and is ruled by the Council of 12, a collection of the brightest and wisest of the nations twelve greatest noble houses. While Humans are not a rare sight in the nation, they are not the ruling race of Minstrel. The true ruling race is the Calcos, a humanoid reptilian race who treats the resident humans as little more than second class citizens. Minstrel is a nation mostly consisting of a colossal desert, reaching as far as the eye can see. Despite being a desert, food and water is far from scarce, leading for a very fruitful nation that prospers with their trade of metals, gems and crafted goods. Minstrel is above all ruled by the Calcos people and they hold mankind in general in very little regard. Beyond some well established trade routes, Minstrel is largely untouched by outside influences, even to the point where the Magic Council itself lacks all jurisdiction in Minstrel. This is due to the fact that the Calcos wants nothing to do with the humans as far as rules and laws comes as they do not want to have any humans try to decide how they should rule their own country. Council authorities have tried to compromise with the Calcos by offering them seats in the council, but they have refused every offer becasue if they were to join, they would have to turn their attention to other nations than simply Minstrel and Minstrel is the only nation that matters to them. Culture With the reccent immigration wave that came to minstrel, the nation is now rather culturally mixed. With humans from the various nations such as Fiore, Bosco, Midi and Desierto, the nation of Minstrel has for the first time in centuries permitted a cultural shift. The immigrating people now had the right to freely practice their own cultures as long as it is within the comfort of their own homes. Public cultural practice carries with it heavy fines. The still dominating culture of Minstrel is that of its native people, the Calcos. Much like Bosco, slavery is a very common thing in Minstrel, very much a core element to their society. Anyone can own a slave as long as they are considered true Minstrel citizens. In many regards, Minstrel carries a very tained reputation due to it's slavery. While they are not so foul in their acquirement of slaves, such as Bosco who have the tendency to acquire their slaves from kidnappers, Minstrel is infamous for their typical treatment of their slaves. While Bosco have some basic rules about how you may treat your slaves, Minstrel has few to none of those. There are two types of slavery in Minstrel. Traditional slavery, which is what it sounds like. The master can purchase a slave as his or her property after which the master can do anything they so desire to their slave. They could be used as farmhands, gladiators, miners, prostitutes or even used for purely breeding purposes. Then there is the "Debt Slavery". Debt slavery is where the slave holds a debt to the government, either for lack of tax payments or because one has commited a grave crime to the nation. Out of the two forms of slavery, Debt Slavery is the prefered form. A debt is not the property of an individual but rather to the very government, which means that any harm to those slaves are considered violation of state property, which has some heavy repercussions. When an individual is made a debt slave, any citizen may come to claim one of the slaves for a limited time, depending on the slaves debts or crimes. A debt slave can also not be used for "breeding", mining or prostitution purposes as those are considered to be harmful work. While slavery is a very common thing in Minstrel, and most likely the thing they are most known for, but the nation's pride and is its crafting and its music. No nation in the world has produced as many musical celebrities as Minstrel. Despite the nations general distaste for humans, one would be hardbent to find someone that would refuse a human to study music or to become a musician or singer, as long as they have the will and passion for it. The nation is absolutely littered with music schools, and for the best and most dedicated, there is the world famous Bards Guild in Forte, the capitol of Minstrel. The crafting on the other hand is something they are not so keen on sharing with those whom are not Calcos. Not just typical crafting though, such as tailoring, jewelry making and so forth, because such secrets was leaked to the other nations long ago. What they take the most pride with in their crafting is their blacksmithing. Minstrel have some of the finest smiths in all of earthland, able to creating armors and weapons greater than anything previously seen. How they do so is a very well guarded secret and Minstrel has made sure to keep it that way. Their smiths have created weapons and armors that would put the likes of Archenemy and the Admantine Armor to shame. Marriage and love is something that is held in very high regard too in Minstrel. The Calcos is a monogamous race, both by nature and by culture. Calcos are very picky choosers when it comes to their mates, so much so that they would rather go their entire life without a partner rather than choosing one which may not be an appropriate match, but once they've found one, they will remain loyal to their partner, and in many cases, won't ever pick another for as long as they live. Marriage is a sacred union to them and is not something they thoughtlessly enter. Arranged marriages is greatly frowned upon, even amongst the noble houses. Contrary to popular belief, Minstrel is very progressive with homosexual relationships, in many ways it is actually encouraged. Families are often very supportive of a members choice of mate and will go to great lengths to assure a good relationship between the two. That is, as long as the mate is a Calco. Despite being perfectly able to reproduce with one another and having many similarities, relationships between humans and calcos are considered despicable, disgusting even. There are very few in Minstrel who would even as much as tolerate such a union. The situation is so bad for such relationships that it is a very common thing for cross species couples to leave the country just so that they can be with their mate without the unrelenting hate. Government Guilds Military Due to how te Calcos society functions, Minstrel has the world largest known army, exceeding even the likes of the Empire Alvarez in numbers. With an army consisting of over three million proffesional soldiers and millions more basic combat trained men and women, Minstrel possesses effectively the greatest army in the known world. This is much due to the fact that the Calcos men are generally not permitted to own businesses, rule a family house or take part in any official political arrangements beyond listening and voting. So, as such, the options that are left for the men are to either work as common workers or make "better use of themselves" and join the military.